This invention relates to apparatus for filling bags and, more particularly, to apparatus for supporting a bag of plastic film or similar pliant material to permit insertion of an item or items, particularly fresh produce items, therein.
For shipping fresh produce to market it is desirable to package the items in transparent plastic bags to maintain cleanliness, preserve freshness, and minimize handling damage. Lettuce, particularly the looser, more delicate leaf varieties such as Boston, Bibb, Grand Rapids, and the like, as well as endive, spinach, and other leafy vegetables present a problem in bagging because the leaves tend to bruise when the plant is slid into the bag. Also, trying to slide a lettuce plant into a relatively close fitting pliant bag requires a great deal of dexterity and is time consuming. If a bag much larger than the plant is used, the plant tends to fall out during subsequent handling. From a marketing standpoint it is preferable to use a bag size which is substantially filled by the item enclosed, and from a cost standpoint a smaller bag is less expensive than a larger one.
Commercial bagging machinery, while well adapted for handling chopped or shredded leafy vegetables, is not suitable for bagging whole plants without damage. A simple device, in the form of a wooden ring supported on three dowel legs with the plane of the ring horizontal, has been found to be useful for hand packing of lettuce plants in plastic bags. A worker turns a bag inside out over the ring, places a lettuce plant on the exposed inner surface of the bottom of the bag, reaches underneath the ring to grasp the outer surface of the bottom of the bag, and pulls the bag and the plant down through the ring, causing the bag to wrap itself around the plant.
Use of such a bagger ring is a help in hand-bagging lettuce plants, but the operation is slowed by sliding friction encountered between the bag and the ring as the bag is pulled down through the ring, and by adhesion of the bag to the ring if moisture is present on either the ring or the outside of the bag.